Court Says The $750 Million Dividend Suit Against BP Belongs In England

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a putative class action over BP PLC’s decision not to pay a promised $750 million in dividends to shareholders after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill should be tried in England. The court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the suit. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison ruled in June 2014 that England would provide a more convenient forum for the Plaintiffs’ claims that the company’s action had no legal basis since they concern primarily questions of English law. Judge Ellison had earlier dismissed a similar suit filed by the same Plaintiff, Robert R. Glenn, also on jurisdictional grounds.